Pixie Spot

MLB: Baltimore 6, Los Angeles Angels 4

Aubrey Huff helped stake Baltimore to an early lead with a three-run homer Friday and the Orioles held off the Los Angeles Angels 6-4.

The Angels lost for the third time in four games and slipped back into a tie for first place with Texas in the American League West.

Luke Scott delivered a two-run double in the first and Huff blasted his homer in the third to give the Orioles a 5-0 advantage.

An RBI single by Nick Markakis in the fourth increased the lead to 6-0 and the Orioles spent the rest of the game holding on against the potent Los Angeles lineup.

Kendry Morales hit a two-run homer for the Angels in the sixth to make it 6-3 and Los Angeles added a run in the eighth when Vladimir Guerrero's ground out brought in Torii Hunter from third.

George Sherrill came on in the ninth to protect the two-run cushion and gave up a leadoff single to Maicer Izturis. After Jeff Mathis struck out, Mike Napoli grounded into a double play to ...

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posted by Pixie @ 1:40 AM 0 comments

MLB: Los Angeles Dodgers 6, San Diego 3

Matt Kemp finished off a five-run first with a two-run double Friday and the Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed back Manny Ramirez by downing San Diego 6-3.

Ramirez played for the first time since May 6, having served a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy. He had four plate appearances and did not get the ball out of the infield -- walking in the first inning, grounding out to second in the second, grounding out to shortstop in the fourth and popping out to second in the sixth.

Ramirez was replaced in left field by Juan Pierre after the sixth inning.

The big first inning made a winner out of Hiroki Kuroda (4-5), who lasted 5 1/3 while giving up three runs on four hits.

The Dodgers got a combined 3 2/3 hitless innings of relief from four pitchers, with Jonathan Broxton picking up his 20th save.

Chad Gaudin (4-7) surrendered six runs on seven hits in five innings to suffer the loss.

Scott Hairston homered and Adrian...

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posted by Pixie @ 1:34 AM 0 comments

Marines fight Taliban in southern province

U.S. Marines in southern Afghanistan spent the day Friday fighting rather than meeting with residents and local leaders as they planned, officials said.

Taliban insurgents increased their attacks in the Helmand River valley, especially in the district of Garmser. They fought an eight-hour battle from a walled housing compound with troops from the 2nd battalion of the 8th Marine Regiment.

After watching the compound for about 24 hours and determining there were no civilians present, the Marines called in a Harrier fighter jet which dropped a bomb. All of the Taliban left inside were believed killed by the 500-pound bomb, officials said.

Secondary explosions following the bombing convinced Marines there were bombs inside. They said they believed between 30 and 40 insurgents were shooting at them.

The Taliban retreated to the compound after attacking the 2nd battalion's Echo Company, The Washington Post reported.

Police: Fatal bus fire was arson

Police in Chengdu, China, say they believe a fatal bus fire in early June was deliberately set.

The fire in Sichuan Province killed 27 people, including the alleged arsonist, and injured 74. The state-run Xinhua news service identified the alleged arsonist as Zhang Yunliang, an unemployed 62-year-old native of Suzhou City in eastern Jiangsu Province who was living in Chengdu.

Survivors told police they smelled gasoline and they said they believed Zhang brought it in onto the bus in a plastic bucket at 7:40 p.m. June 5. They said Zhang boarded the bus at the start of the line in Tianhui Township and poured the gasoline as the bus approached the Chuanshan Viaduct in downtown Chengdu.

The investigation revealed Zhang poured gasoline from the rear toward the front of the bus. Police said they found a lighter near his body in the most severely burned section, the rear.

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posted by Pixie @ 1:23 AM 0 comments

MLB: San Francisco 13, Houston 0

Pablo Sandoval and Travis Ishikawa both had three RBI Friday and the San Francisco Giants produced 15 hits in rolling over Houston 13-0.

Ryan Sadowski (2-0), in only the second game of his major league career, allowed three hits over seven innings. He has thrown 13 innings in his brief stay with the Giants and has yet to give up a run.

Sandoval started the San Francisco attack with a two-run homer in the first inning and added an RBI triple as part of a four-run third. Ishikawa hit a three-run homer during a six-run second.

Felipe Paulino (2-4) was blasted for eight runs on nine hits in just two innings. His poor outing came one start after he had limited Detroit to a run on three hits in seven frames.

The Giants had lost their two previous games and Houston had won its last two.

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posted by Pixie @ 1:13 AM 0 comments

Police:Fatal bus fire was arson

Police in Chengdu, China, say they believe a fatal bus fire in early June was deliberately set.

The fire in Sichuan Province killed 27 people, including the alleged arsonist, and injured 74. The state-run Xinhua news service identified the alleged arsonist as Zhang Yunliang, an unemployed 62-year-old native of Suzhou City in eastern Jiangsu Province who was living in Chengdu.

Survivors told police they smelled gasoline and they said they believed Zhang brought it in onto the bus in a plastic bucket at 7:40 p.m. June 5. They said Zhang boarded the bus at the start of the line in Tianhui Township and poured the gasoline as the bus approached the Chuanshan Viaduct in downtown Chengdu.

The investigation revealed Zhang poured gasoline from the rear toward the front of the bus. Police said they found a lighter near his body in the most severely burned section, the rear.

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posted by Pixie @ 1:11 AM 0 comments

Swiss banks give U.S. clients the boot

Many Swiss bank executives have decided clients from the United States are not worth problems with U.S. tax authorities, banking officials said.

UBS is embroiled in a legal dispute with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, which is seeking information on 52,000 clients, Swissinfo reported Friday. Other banks fear similar action would force them to open their books, the report said.

We are recommending our banks not to open any new client relations to clients living in the U.S.., Stefan Kern, a spokesman for Bank Raffeissen, said. The future procedures with the U.S. are unclear.

Andy Sundberg of American Citizens Abroad in Geneva said even U.S. citizens living in Switzerland have been having trouble opening bank accounts.

Lawrence Desmond, who holds dual citizenship, said UBS gave him 45 days to close his account or transfer it to a special unit registered with the IRS. Because he holds a Swiss passport, Desmond, who sa...

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posted by Pixie @ 1:11 AM 0 comments

Ban asks to visit Aung San Suu Kyi

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked the Myanmar military junta Friday for a meeting with dissident leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Ban said the generals reminded him the Nobel Peace Prize winner is on trial, The New York Times reported. He said he told them he would appreciate a meeting before his departure late Saturday.

The secretary-general's trip to the country formerly known as Burma is intended to convince the generals to release Suu Kyi and other political prisoners before the general election next year. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for much of the past two decades.

This election should be a credible, fair, inclusive and legitimate one where all the Myanmar people can express their will in a free way, Ban said. I was assured that Myanmar's authorities will make sure that this election will be held in fair and free and transparent manner.

Suu Kyi is being held in Insein Prison. She was arrested af...

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posted by Pixie @ 12:52 AM 0 comments

MLS: Real Salt Lake 1, San Jose 1 (tie)

Chris Leach put the ball into his own goal in the first minute of extra time Friday, allowing Real Salt Lake to escape with a 1-1 tie against San Jose.

San Jose (3-8-4) appeared headed for its first two-game winning streak of the season before Leach's mishap. Salt Lake played with just 10 men for the final 20 minutes after Fabian Espindola was ejected for what was deemed to be a serious foul.

Arturo Alvarez gave San Jose a 1-0 lead in the 63rd minute with his fifth goal of the season.

Salt Lake (5-6-5) remained unbeaten in its last five games.

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posted by Pixie @ 12:40 AM 0 comments

Robert Pattinson On Kissing Scenes

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posted by Pixie @ 9:15 AM 0 comments

Demi Lovato Speaks About Divorce

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posted by Pixie @ 8:47 AM 0 comments

Kate Gosselin Raising The Kids Alone

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posted by Pixie @ 7:20 AM 0 comments

2 police dogs die in locked cruiser

A British police dog handler could face criminal charges for leaving two German shepherds locked in a hot police car where they died.

The cruiser was parked outside Sherwood Lodge, headquarters of the Nottinghamshire Police in Nottingham, The Daily Mail reported Thursday. The county police kennels were nearby.

The incident is also being investigated by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The group's experts say that on the hottest day of the summer so far, when the temperature reached 84 degrees, it could have been 116 inside the car.

Officers left flowers in the car park Thursday in memory of the two dogs, which had been donated to the Nottinghamshire Police.

This has caused understandable upset and shock to all concerned, Chief Superintendent Ak Khan said. We are taking the matter very seriously and we can understand the upset that this has caused. We will certainly learn any lessons and make s...

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posted by Pixie @ 1:29 AM 0 comments

Dads prepare for new baby in boot camp

New dads say they face many challenges and a U.S. boot camp for new daddies helps them meet these challenges and prepare for the new baby.

When dad-to-be Ivan Weiskott of Durham, N.C., asked other men about parenting, he heard a lot about changing diapers, but also about sleep deprivation, supporting the mom emotionally, how to sooth a crying baby and doing the right thing for the family -- sometimes all at once.

I just hoped I would have the physical and emotion strength to handle those things, Weiskott says in a statement.

He is putting what he has learned as a new father to use as an instructor in the Boot Camp for New Dads -- offered by the Women's Health Information Center at the North Carolina Women's Hospital at University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill.

The popular program -- open to men only -- helps future fathers ask questions, address their fears and get advice as well as interact with other n...

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posted by Pixie @ 1:25 AM 0 comments

Funeral home denies mistreating bodies

Lawyers for a Virginia funeral home deny bodies were mishandled there, insisting National Funeral Home in Falls Church broke no laws.

Relatives charge the funeral home -- a regional embalming and storage facility for the Service Corporation of America chain, based in Houston -- stored bodies in an unrefrigerated garage and in hallways, The Washington Post reported. Steven Napper, a Maryland state trooper turned embalmer, photographed bodies in the garage and on top of biohazard boxes.

The bodies included those of military veterans being prepared for burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

Lawyers, in a letter to the Virginia board regulating funeral homes, acknowledged the garage was occasionally used for storage during busy times. But they said bodies were kept there only briefly.

State law does not require embalmed bodies to be refrigerated, the funeral home said.

MLB: Los Angeles Angels 5, Baltimore 2

Bobby Abreu had two home runs and four RBI and John Lackey turned in a strong start Thursday in the Los Angeles Angels 5-2 win over Baltimore.

Lackey (3-3) went eight innings, allowing two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and one walk.

Chone Figgins had three hits and an RBI and Juan Rivera had two hits for the Angels, who broke a two-game losing streak that followed a six-game winning streak.

Brian Fuentes pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his 23rd save, tops in the majors.

Orioles' starter Jeremy Guthrie (6-8) took the loss, allowing five runs on nine hits over seven innings with five strikeouts and two walks.

Luke Scott homered and Matt Wieters drove in a run for the Orioles, who have lost four of their last five games.

Abreu put the Angels on the board with a fourth-inning leadoff solo homer and then jacked a three-run homer in the fifth.

Delhi court legalizes consensual gay sex

A New Delhi high court legalized gay sex between consenting adults, saying an Indian law making such acts a criminal offense violated fundamental rights.

However, the Press Trust of India reported the court Thursday let stand a section of the Indian Penal Code criminalizing homosexuality in non-consensual sex. That would include pedophilia.

The colonial era law was enacted in 1860, other reports said.

We declare section 377 of IPC in so far as it criminalizes consensual sexual acts of adults in private violates the Constitution, a two-judge bench of Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice S. Murlidhar said in their landmark ruling.

The decision, while applying only to New Delhi, is a victory for basic rights to privacy, non-discrimination, and liberty, Human Rights Watch in New York said, noting it is the first time a senior court in India has issued a decision on the law. The group said the ruling is likely to influence the legal establis...

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posted by Pixie @ 1:18 AM 0 comments

Dashboard cam catches cops making out

After an Ohio police chief agreed to retire, officials released video showing him making out with a female officer while they were transporting a prisoner.

Timothy Escola, police chief in Perry, and Janine England, a part-time police officer, were taped by the dashboard camera in a police cruiser, The Canton (Ohio) Repository reported Thursday. They drove to the Cincinnati area to bring a burglary suspect to Stark County in northeastern Ohio.

Escola released an apology through his lawyer Wednesday, the day after the tape was released.

Timothy Escola, former Perry Township chief of police, regrets and apologizes to his family and to the citizens of Perry Township for engaging in inappropriate behavior; and, he accepts full responsibility and accountability for his actions, along with the attendant consequences, he said.

The video shows Escola and England kissing and caressing each other. Escola occasionally glances into the back sea...

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posted by Pixie @ 1:07 AM 0 comments

Teens say man used tarot to get sex

Three teenagers have testified that a Philadelphia man used tarot cards and threats of curses to get them to have sex with him.

A 15-year-old said Wednesday she was 13 when Hector Ayala, 59, first convinced her to have oral sex and months later intercourse, the Philadelphia Daily News reported Thursday. She said Ayala used a numerical code, with five for oral sex and seven for intercourse.

He was reading my cards and told me that I wasn't on a good path and that I had to do these things called 'five' and 'seven' to make things better, she said.

Ayala is on trial charged with rape, aggravated sexual assault and other offenses.

A 16-year-old girl told a similar story Tuesday and another 16-year-old testified last week Ayala told her having sex with him would protect her family from a curse. Both girls said Ayala abused them for several years, while the 15-year-old said she had sex with him only twice.

The 15-year-old said she ...

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posted by Pixie @ 12:51 AM 0 comments

China real estate prices soar again

An indication Chinese real estate prices have resumed their stratospheric trend came this week when a piece of land in Beijing went for a record $585 million.

Only 15 months ago, the same land parcel near Beijing's Guangqu Road was withdrawn from a public tender as there were no bidders, the China Daily reported Friday. The plot's area was not given.

But this time around, there was fierce bidding among major developers both from the mainland and Hong Kong at an auction where the final price was $585 million, a record for a single land parcel in the Chinese capital, the report said.

Such trends are being noticed across the country, the report said. Brokers estimate residential property appreciated 6.5 percent in Beijing's Central Business District in just the past week.

In Shanghai, developers of the luxury Tomson Rivers apartments sold 10 units in the first 25 days of June, the report said. Prior to that, the developers, whose apartments gener...

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posted by Pixie @ 12:48 AM 0 comments

Neighbor charged with setting up killing

A neighbor was charged Thursday with helping set up the killing of a Philadelphia party planner and her male companion.

Investigators said Katoya Jones, 25, was caught by security cameras letting the men who killed Rian Thal, 34, and Timothy Gilmore into the building where she and Thal both lived, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Jones has been charged with murder, conspiracy, attempted robbery and burglary.

Thal and Gilmore were shot dead Saturday in the hallway outside her apartment in the Piazza at Schmidt's, a high-rise in the trendy Northern Liberties neighborhood.

Gilmore, an Ohio resident, had a trucking business that was allegedly a front for drug dealing. Police found $100,000 in cash and more than 8 pounds of cocaine in Thal's apartment.

Security cameras caught the shooting, showing three men were involved. No one has yet been charged with carrying out the killing.

Police say the killers' intent may have been to rob Th...

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posted by Pixie @ 12:26 AM 0 comments

Bodies of 3 sisters, woman pulled from car

Authorities in Kingston, Ontario, say they are trying to figure out how three teenage sisters and a woman wound up dead in a submerged car.

CTV Montreal reported Wednesday the bodies of the siblings, ages 13, 17 and 19, and the woman, a relative in her 50s, were pulled from more than 15 feet of water in Kingston Mills locks northeast of Kingston Tuesday morning.

The victims' names were not released.

It's very tragic ... very, very strange, Kingston police Constable Mike Menor said. It's a really weird spot where the car was. It's not a spot where you would drive.

The Kingston Whig Standard reported the victims had stopped in Kingston on their way from a holiday near Toronto to their home in Quebec.

Autopsies are to be performed Thursday in Ottawa.

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posted by Pixie @ 1:56 AM 0 comments

Stressed men more risky, women less risky

Men under stress may be more likely to take risks, while stressed women may be less likely to do so, U.S. researchers found.

The study, published in the journal PLoS One, shows that men under stress may be more likely to take risks, correlating to such real-life behavior as gambling, smoking, unsafe sex and illegal drug use, while stressed women moderate their behavior.

Evolutionarily speaking, it's perhaps more beneficial for men to be aggressive in stressful, high-arousal situations when risk and reward are involved, lead author Nichole Lighthall of the University of Southern California Davis School of Gerontology said in a statement. Applied to financial risk taking, it's akin to competition for territory or other valuable resources.

The researchers asked participants to play the Balloon Analogue Risk Task in which inflating a balloon earns money. Participants were told that they could cash out their earnings by clicking a b...

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posted by Pixie @ 1:53 AM 0 comments

China wants diversified global monetary system: govt

China said it wanted a broader global monetary system days before President Hu Jintao was set to leave for the G8 summit, during which the issue of a new reserve currency could be raised.

"We hope that in the future the international monetary system will be diversified," vice foreign minister He Yafei told reporters in a briefing about Hu's trip to the Group of Eight meeting in Italy from July 8 to 10.

"If this issue (of a new global reserve currency) is raised by leaders during the meeting, it is nothing strange, it is natural."

"We are all discussing how to respond to the financial crisis... this issue is under that framework."

China made waves in March when it called for ditching the US dollar as the international reserve currency to stabilise the world monetary climate -- a suggestion that the International Monetary Fund later said was legitimate.<...

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posted by Pixie @ 1:52 AM 0 comments

Minister: Swat militant leader wounded

Mullah Fazlullah, the notorious Taliban leader in Pakistan's Swat Valley, was seriously wounded in a military attack, Pakistan's interior minister told the BBC.

The British network reported Minister Rahman Malik's comment could not be independently verified.

Swat Valley in Pakistan's northwest has been the scene of a military campaign against the Taliban for two months.

The military -- which is winding down its operation in the Swat area, a stronghold of Mullah Fazlullah -- claims to have inflicted heavy casualties on the militants.

While talking to the BBC, Malik also did not attach importance to an announcement Tuesday by a Taliban group in North Waziristan led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur that it has scrapped a peace deal with the government.

Malik, asserting the militants are allied with one another, said there was nothing new in the announcement.

The military now plans to turn its attention to South Waziristan to hunt ...

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posted by Pixie @ 1:23 AM 0 comments

People select views in which they agree

An analysis of dozens of studies found people tend to avoid information that contradicts what they already think or believe, U.S. researchers said.

Researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of Florida said the data studied involved 91 studies involving nearly 8,000 participants.

University of Illinois psychology Professor Dolores Albarracin, who led the study with University of Florida researcher William Hart and colleagues, said the analysis puts to rest a longstanding debate over whether people actively avoid information that contradicts what they believe, or whether they are simply exposed more often to ideas that conform to their own because they tend to be surrounded by like-minded people.

We wanted to see exactly across the board to what extent people are willing to seek out the truth versus just stay comfortable with what they know, Albarracin said in a statement.

The analysis, published in the Psyc...

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posted by Pixie @ 1:23 AM 0 comments

MLB: Houston 7, San Diego 1

Brian Moehler struck out eight over six innings Wednesday and played a key role a six-run Houston fourth that boosted the Astros past San Diego 7-1.

Moehler (5-4) held the Padres to a run on four hits before turning things over to the bull pen in the seventh. He has lost just once in his last seven starts.

The Astros took control when they sent 10 men to the plate in the fourth. Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee, Geoff Blum and Kazuo Matsui all had RBI singles before Moehler came to the plate with the bases loaded and two out.

Moehler hit a grounder to third baseman Chase Headley, but his throw to first was wild and two unearned runs scored to give Houston a 6-1 lead.

The loss went to Walter Silva (0-2), who gave up six runs in a four-inning stint.

San Diego first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who strained his right knee in Tuesday's victory over the Astros, was in the lineup Wednesday and went hitless in three at bats. He has appeared in 284 cons...

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posted by Pixie @ 1:13 AM 0 comments

British actress Sugden dead at 86

British actress Mollie Sugden, best known at Mrs. Slocombe in the TV sitcom Are You Being Served?, has died after a long illness, her agent said. She was 86.

Agent Joan Reddin told the BBC Sugden's twin sons Robin and Simon Moore were at her bedside when she died Wednesday at Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford.

Sugden played Mrs. Slocombe on Are You Being Served? from 1972 to 1985.

She would never refuse any sort of comedy situation, David Croft, a writer for the show, told the BBC. No matter how undignified it was, she would always go along with it. She was marvelously funny.

Sugden was married to fellow actor William Moore, who died nine years ago.

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posted by Pixie @ 1:10 AM 0 comments

62 Detroit sex offenders back in jail

Dozens of convicted sex offenders released prematurely are back in their cells at Detroit-area prisons, a corrections official says.

The Detroit News reported Wednesday that it had learned 62 sex offenders were accidentally set free last week. It was three or four days, the newspaper said, before the error was realized and they were rounded up.

The inmates had served their minimum terms for offenses such as child molestation and rape, and were going through treatment prior to receiving recommendations from psychologists as to whether they were ready for parole or needed further treatment or detention, the News said.

Russ Marlan, a state Corrections Department spokesman, said the prisoners were released after two psychologists failed to classify the prisoners properly.

We went out and got them all, Marlin said.

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posted by Pixie @ 12:37 AM 0 comments

Factions in Kurram to stop fighting

Pakistan's Kurram Agency Thursday awaited calm after a reported cease-fire among warring factions as troops began deploying there to fight the Taliban.

Kurram Agency, part of Pakistan's volatile FATA, or federally administered tribal areas, has been the scene of violent clashes in recent days among the factions, some penetrated by the Taliban, leaving dozens dead.

The Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported Thursday that Kurram's political administration succeeded in convincing the factions, among them the Toori and Bangash clans, to stop fighting.

That agreement allowed security forces to begin deploying in Khwar Kaley, Blishkhel and Lakeysar areas, with more expected to come in, Dawn said.

The local militias, or Lashkars, have been fighting to eject Taliban militants who reportedly moved into their areas after escaping from the military in the northwest region, especially the Swat Valley.

But after factional fighting broke out,...

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posted by Pixie @ 12:34 AM 0 comments